It was no small hike to reach the far side of the hill upon which Black Crux Manor stood. By the time they had lumbered up its slope over stony terrain and through rough brush to reach the meeting point that Siegert had directed them to, Lily was puffing for breath. Vetch had already chosen to remove his gloves and shed the leather armor and chainmail, carrying them all as he led the way in the dark. The sun had now fully descended beneath the horizon and the trail was perilous by moonlight, a serpentine course that skirted deep fissures and unnavigable hillocks. But the former guardsman’s directions were accurate. They arrived at length to a narrow plateau dotted with short trees that blossomed with fragrant flowers Lily had no name for.
Vetch set his armor down and peered through the dark. “Doesn’t look like he’s here yet. This is the right place, isn’t it?”
Lily stood in the middle of the little plateau, in full moonlight. “It looks like it. He did say it may take some time for him to gather his friends together.” She lifted her eyes to the great black-stoned castle above them. From this back side of the hill, most of what she could see was a stalwart wall, the inner sanctum and towers peeking above it, and all cast in liquid moonlight and silhouetted against the stars. She concentrated and let herself feel the magic that emanated from the place. Lady Iris was there. She didn’t burn presently, she smoldered. Probably sleeping. Elsewhere in the manor, she sensed Marigold as an indistinct beacon encapsulated within the frozen stone. Her magic felt small and withdrawn. Lily swallowed.
“I hope Siegert arrives soon,” she said. “I wish to get this over with quickly, and have you and Mari back here safe. If I knew where this chasm he spoke of was located, I would cast the Barrier now.”
Vetch’s gaze followed hers. He spoke while he surveilled what little they could see of the castle above. “I, too, wish he had given us the rest of the directions. But I understand why he didn’t. Neither of us can get inside without the other.” He chose a spot and sat down on the ground. He yawned.
“How can you be so calm?”
He offered her a smile. “Much of being a soldier is getting used to waiting. When Siegert arrives, we’ll move. Don’t worry, we’ve plenty of night. Sit with me.”
She would have laughed were she not already feeling so tense. “I can’t. I’m too nervous.”
“I’m the one going in there. It’s me who should be nervous.”
Lily turned her gaze back to him. There was ease in his expression and posture. He could have been lounging on the fence of her family’s goat paddock, as he used to when they were children. Normally, seeing him like this would have lifted her heart and brought an unavoidable smile to her face. But the fears that swirled around her, about everything that could go wrong, quashed that feeling. She could only frown.
Vetch’s face fell. “I was only jesting, Lily. I am nervous. More nervous than I can describe. But there’s nothing we can do until Siegert gets here. We have to steal what rest we can, while we can take it.”
Despite his sensible words, Lily couldn’t bring herself to sit down. For a time, she stood in place, attempting to maintain her focus on where the two more advanced mages were within the castle. Time passed and neither moved. Both were doubtless asleep. Being so close to Marigold and not being able to reach her or talk to her was agonizing. She wouldn’t be there when she woke. It would be Vetch, decked out in unfamiliar armor, possibly bloodied from battle. Marigold would recognize Vetch, of course, and she would trust him. But it would still be a fright at first, one Lily wished they hadn’t needs to inflict.
As more time passed and Siegert did not appear, Lily took to pacing. The night was clear and cool, the trees unable to entirely shelter her from the breeze that stole through her blouse to chill her, even as her anxiety made her feel paradoxically warm.
“Where is he?” she asked, glancing up at the castle again. How long was it that they had been waiting here? Hours?
“He’ll be here,” said Vetch. Though even he had begun looking down the hill for their coconspirator’s approach.
Lily was finding it difficult to stay still. If she wasn’t pacing, she was standing in place worrying the hem of her blouse sleeve, where a loose thread was getting on her nerves. She had been ready to act the moment they reached the top of the hill, but all that preparedness had found no outlet and panic was rising in its place. Would the former guardsman show up at all? Had he been sold out by one of his friends and detained by Lady Iris’s sellswords? Or had it all been simply some cruel prank from the start?
“What if we can’t help Mari tonight?” she said, turning. When she voiced the fear, her voice rose in pitch with her growing apprehension. “What if we never find our way in there at all and she remains imprisoned by that witch forever? What ... what if ...” she stole a few quick breaths and found she was hyperventilating. She hugged her arms around herself tightly.
Vetch rose to his feet and came to her. “Lily. Lily, Lily ... shh shh shh shh. It will be alright.” He enclosed her in his arms and drew her close to his warm body. She clung close to him and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. The sturdy material of his padded shirt was rough against her skin. His chin stubble caught on her hair as he spoke calming words by her ear. “It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t show. We will simply find our own way in. Somehow. We are not leaving this town without Marigold. I promise you that. Do not fear.”
Softly, he stroked her hair with his rough hands. He brushed a stray lock from her face and tucked it behind her ear, as she did for herself so often without thought. It intrigued her how his touch could be so gentle when he was capable of so much strength. She realized she was shaking against him and felt embarrassed, but he only held her tightly until her shaking subsided. And even then, he didn’t let go, but stood and held her still.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he kept repeating.
Soon, Lily ceased to mark his specific words and only experienced the intent of them, like soft brush strokes of comfort across her senses. She drew in a breath and, with its exhalation, allowed her fears to ease some. And when she could, she relaxed her tight grip on Vetch, so she could look at him. She meant to murmur a thank-you for helping to calm her, but instead of speaking, she lifted her mouth to his and kissed him, softly, silently. He reciprocated, a sure press of his lips to hers. She felt the tight embrace of his arms ease, so that his hands could sink lower to lace fingers at the small of her back.
What began as a small, shared reassurance became deeper. Lily sheltered herself in her man. His stubble on her skin was a tantalizing tingle. She parted her lips in an invitation that he graciously accepted. Heat suffused her body. She was shaking again, only it was not from fear now. The sensations running through her were stronger than any magic she had experienced.
The spontaneous thought came from out of nowhere. Now, Lily, she told herself. Now. Her thought. Her voice. With purpose and certainty, she drew herself back from the kiss and pressed her hand to Vetch’s chest. “Lie down.”
He made a sound as if slow to comprehend, and she giggled and repeated herself. This time, he murmured an affirmation and eased himself down into the spring grass beneath one of the flowering little trees.
Without hesitation, Lily followed him to the earth to straddle his legs. Her eyes intent on him, her fingers worked the buckles of his sword belt and then his trousers. She found him already rising and helped expose him to the night air. His eyes showed surprise, at first, then delight.
“Here?” he asked, with brows raised and a smile playing in his eyes.
She nodded eagerly. And when he looked as though he would say more, she pressed her finger to his lips. “Shh.” The throaty chuckle he answered her with was inviting.
She moved up his body, allowing her splaying knees to force her underclothes up her thighs and causing her skirt to pool out around his hips in a blossom of fabric.
“Lily ...” There was no requirement in Vetch’s utterance. He spoke her name simply to speak it. She met his eyes with hers; they shined. His countenance was one of intoxication.
“Vetch,” she spoke in a husky whisper.
Steadying herself with one hand on his shoulder, she found and took hold of him, raising herself while guiding that desirous vitality of his to her, bare flesh to bare flesh. The first touch sent a jolt throughout her body. She felt the clumsy jab of him against her and gasped a breath. Somehow, they both knew how to move to bring themselves together and achieve their shared aim.
It was startling, that first moment he entered her. He sensed the shift of her body and he made his press slow. She welcomed it, composed herself, then dared herself, moving her body to take him in further. His groan was soft, quiet in the night, but overflowing with desire and echoing hers.
Now, she reaffirmed for herself, as she anchored her upper body with her hands on his shoulders, and began to discover for herself the rhythm and the touch needed, the feel. She made adjustments, learned to move her body as felt right, her deep breaths gaining in confidence. There was warmth and wetness and pressure. She explored it, taking its measure. When she looked down into Vetch’s handsome face, she saw therein a mix of pleasure and disbelief, so that she almost had to stave off a fit of giggles. There was no one moment to reflect on how it felt—how she felt. Wonderous. Complete. Realized. All in one experience. Her first time. It was not in her soft bed back home. Not by some chance opportunity in the barracks when no one else was around. But here, on this hillside, in the open night air. Funny, how different it was from all the ways she had imagined. And how different from all the ways she had been told it might be. No description she had ever heard could match how thrilling and enlivening and natural it was truly.
She took the lead, guiding she and Vetch through this garden they cultivated together. She cradled his face in her hands and bent down to kiss him. His kiss was sweet and as needful as hers. His hands rode the motion her hips directed, following their lead. The pleasure they shared built and grew. Lily’s breath came heavier and her soft moans began to keep countermeasure with Vetch’s deeper sounds of exultation. His hands roved lower on her and he seized her skirt in the passionate clench of his fingers, bunching up the material so that her backside was bared to the chill night air, causing goose pimples to rise on her flesh.
Lifting from their kiss, she found his shoulders again and they moved in concert. Lily lost track of time. It could have been forever or only a few minutes. She would gladly have had this night last always, with this wonderful man who embraced her, and comforted her, bolstered her, and looked upon her with love and adoration, as she looked upon him.
Something was building deep inside her, though she wasn’t quite certain to what end, nor how she was meant to chase it. She was caught up in that sensation, and in Vetch’s eyes, when he quite suddenly gripped her harder. He bucked beneath her a few swift times and then was taut and unyielding and then, once his impassioned release was exhausted, lay back panting like a happy dog. Just like that, they were resting and breathing and looking to each other. She was captured in a euphoric mist, her entirety buzzing with what she had just experienced. She shifted and he slipped from her and warm wetness trickled down her inner thigh. But still they remained as they were. Lowering herself into his ready embrace, she waited for her scattered thoughts to reform themselves into coherency. So, this was how it felt.
Voices issued from down the hill and the both of them startled.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“... little way up ahead. Just there.”
The spell was broken as Lily pushed up from Vetch and shot to her feet. She hastily pulled her underclothes up and straightened her skirt, while Vetch fumbled his trousers and belt buckle closed. She handed him up to his feet and they had only a couple spare seconds to exchange looks of shared humor and relief before Siegert and his small band of friends came up through the trees. Lily brushed her hair back off her brow and re-tied it in its tail as the light from his muffled lantern fell across them.
“You made it,” he said through labored breathing. “I am glad. Have you been waiting long?
Vetch stepped forward to greet the big man and his companions, saying, “Not long.” He clasped Siegert’s hand and then offered an acknowledgement to the people he had brought with him. Lily sized them up as introductions were made—three men and one woman. Like Siegert, they were dressed as farmers, but also like Siegert, they carried themselves like fighters. Two wore swords, something Vetch had clearly not failed to notice, as he confirmed again, “We’re all clear, still? No violence. No sabotage. Nothing that’ll bring the guards down on us.”
One of the armed men pounded his gloved fist into his palm. “I would love to ram a blade up Lady Iris’s ass for what she did to us ...”
“Or set fire to one of her storage buildings on the way out,” the woman mumbled.
“Or that,” the first chuckled. “But Siegert made things clear. No trouble. You’re doing us a big favor helping us reclaim our possessions. We’ll stick to our word. I see you’re dressed for a fight, though,” he added, noting Vetch’s accoutrements. Even as the man spoke, Vetch was re-donning his chainmail and leather armor.
“Just a precaution,” said Vetch, pulling on his gloves and giving his sword belt’s buckle a final check.
“That’s fair,” Siegert said. “And I pray you won’t have need to draw steel. Shall we get to it then? Mage Lily?”
Lily nodded. “I’m ready. Lead the way.”
To reach the narrow point in one of the chasms that Siegert had described required an additional bout of hiking up a steep and gravelly span of the hillside. Siegert led the way with his shaded lantern. While it wasn’t much farther along from where they had all met, Lily was certain she and Vetch could never have found it on their own, much less in the dark. When they reached the edge of the chasm, Siegert set his lantern down next to it, so they all could see where it lay and avoid falling. They were directly underneath Black Crux Manor’s rear wall now. Lily could make out subdued torchlight in some outlier buildings. Those would be the places Siegert and his companions would make for, to steal back their tools. Vetch would skirt around the wall to a servant’s door Siegert had described for him, and make his way up into the inner keep from there.
Lily ran her eyes from the looming behemoth of the castle down to the chasm. She could see the other side by the dim lantern light, after which it was only a stone’s throw to the castle wall. She judged that casting a long Barrier across this gap would present no problem. It was easy to be confident in her magic. The difficult part would be suffering through the resultant Slumber, hoping she would wake to find that Vetch had been successful.
Up until now, she had given the lead over to Vetch, with his training in making and carrying out plans like this one. But within that interlude they had shared, something that felt like a dream now, despite having happened only minutes before, had been her opportunity to take control of herself and the moment. She had been so nervous and restless. Vetch had soothed her, and then she had taken them the rest of the way. She still was experiencing the glow of it all. It was more than a physical outlet—though that had been a part of it. In that act, she had exercised her own volition, and she and Vetch had strengthened their bond. She radiated love for him. And she was rather proud she had taken Marigold’s advice about acting when the moment presented itself. She felt grounded now, confident, and in charge of herself. This was the kind of will and self-assurance Marigold had taught her to cultivate. She could cast now.
“Do you need more light?” asked Siegert quietly. “I don’t think they can see us here from the manor, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.” His companions were all peering at her, looking anxious.
“No, I’m ready,” she repeated. “I’m going to make it last for two hours. Will that be enough time?”
“More than enough,” agreed Siegert.
As Lily stepped up to the edge of the chasm, Siegert’s people fanned out to watch, and Lily recalled how people had come to watch Marigold dispel the town Barrier prior to the attack. Only a few hours more, Lily, she told herself, then we’ll have Mari back and we can go home. She took in a slow breath, released it partway, lidded her eyes, and raised her arm. With one forward sweeping motion, she cast a glowing, shoulder-wide Barrier across the gap. It rode the yawning span of darkness as a shimmering, golden walkway. Lily allowed the post-spell sensation to wash over her and then she stepped back.
“Okay. Good luck,” she said.
Siegert was the first to step forward and test the walkway. Tapping it with his boot, he chuckled. “Ha. My boot goes right through, but my feet land on it. What a strange sensation. Well, friends, here we go. Everyone quiet now.” He walked forward. His cohorts followed him single-file.
Vetch followed up last. He took the first step onto the Barrier, putting his boot down. His leg went straight through. He gasped and plummeted. Without thinking, Lily lunged for him, grabbing for the straps on his armor. At the same time, he twisted his body and fell hard with his arms clinging to the edge of the precipice. He scrabbled to pull himself up while Lily dragged him back with all her might. After some panicky seconds, together they got him back on solid ground. He sat there, gritting his teeth against the knock to his injured body, then he looked up at her in confusion.
“What happened?”
“I ... I don’t know,” said Lily. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s just a normal Barrier. No Permissions. No one should be able to pass through it.” To test this for herself, she placed her foot on the Barrier, applied her weight. It held. It was solid for her.
Across the gap Siegert and his friends, alerted by the sound of rocks and soil being dislodged by Vetch’s mad scramble, looked back. “Everything okay?” Siegert called in a pitched whisper.
“A moment,” Lily called back. To Vetch, she said, “I’ll re-cast it. Are you okay?”
To her consternation, he took a deep breath and actually chuckled. “I’m okay, but it gave me a hell of a scare.” He stood, brushed himself off, and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “What could have—”
“I don’t know,” Lily repeated. “I will have to ask Mari about it later. Let me try again.”
She closed her eyes and focused. It was a challenge to calm her racing heart after seeing Vetch nearly plummet over the edge to his death. She tried to banish the self-doubt now pressing on her. Again, she concentrated, letting her muscles go slack throughout her body. As Marigold had counseled innumerous times, she channeled the magic from her thoughts, down her arm, and out through her fingertips. A new walkway emerged above the first, shimmering in the dark. Lily released her restrained breath.
“Try now,” she quietly murmured.
Vetch did not step confidently out this time, but pressed his boot to the Barrier like he was dipping his toes in the chill water of a swimming hole before jumping in. Lily held her breath. Yet again, his entire foot passed easily through her Barrier.
Turning to her with impatient eyes, he said, “Lily. It needs to be now.”
“I know, I know. But ... this isn’t how Barriers work. You should be able to walk across it like the rest of them did. I don’t understand what is happening. A mage must imbue a Barrier with a Permission for someone to pass through it. I didn’t do that.”
“Are you certain you didn’t do it by accident?”
“I’m certain,” she said in exasperation. She didn’t want the distraction of this conversation, nor to have Vetch doubting her this moment. She was as confused as he, but this was not the time.
“Maybe ...” he hedged. “Maybe it’s because we just ... I mean, you and I, a short time ago.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she said, lowering her voice even as her cheeks colored. “It has nothing to do with our making love.”
“What else then? Could it be something is wrong with the way it was cast?” He was relentless, frustration edging through his words. He looked from her to the castle walls across the chasm and back. “It needs to be now, Lily. Tonight. What if you simply didn’t—”
“I know the spell I cast, Vetch!” she replied, her words coming out louder than intended.
Even as she defended herself, doubts were creeping into her thoughts. Internally, she was running down every lesson that she could think of that might explain this, and was drawing a complete blank. Nothing fit. What had she done wrong? Not relaxed enough? Been too nervous, too emotional? Briefly, she even entertained Vetch’s suggestion—those silly old notions from fairy tales, about how mages must remain chaste, lest their magic somehow become diminished. But those were only that—fairy tales. Marigold had told her so.
And, yet, Marigold herself had been known over the course of her life as The Maiden. Was that why she was as powerful as she was? Because she had never taken a lover? Had Lily made a fatal mistake this night by impulsively expressing her passion, a mistake that would doom their rescue attempt to failure before it even began?
And why must Vetch persist with this prodding of her, rather than allow her to concentrate on working out how to fix the spell? Must he inject a bitter taste into what had been so sweet before?
“What’s the matter? Are you coming?” Siegert whispered. The big man appeared out of the dark, returning across the Barrier bridge with his lantern.
“I can’t walk on the Barrier,” Vetch said matter-of-factly. “I pass right through it.”
Siegert looked to Lily. “Could you try again?”
She could only shake her head. “I did. Something’s wrong and I don’t know how to fix it so he can cross.”
Siegert was quiet. As he stood there, the gold coloration of the first Barrier began its slow change toward translucence underneath his boots. Soon, it would become impossible to see. The second one she had cast would shortly follow suit.
“Well ...” began Siegert. “Why don’t I just carry him across?”
“Carry me?”
“Sure. The bridge is solid for me. You can ride pickaback.”
“Can you handle that?”
“Heh. I’m not as young as I used to be, and you’re no child, but I think I can manage. Come on, let’s be about it. Time’s wasting.” He stepped onto solid ground by Vetch and knelt down.
Turning to Lily, Vetch offered a tight-lipped smile. He still looked confident, but there was tension in the set of his pale brow that hadn’t been there before.
Lily tried not to think on it. “You’ll have to have Mari cast the bridge for you to return,” she told him. “I hope she’s able. She feels weak.”
He gave her a nod of acknowledgement. “Lily, pay no mind about the Barrier. I’m sure this was just—”
“Vetch, just go. And be careful.”
Another nod, then he stepped close and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you back at the inn, and I’ll have Mari with me.” With that, he put his arms around Siegert’s broad shoulders and allowed the big man to heft him onto his back.
A couple steps out onto the Barrier, Siegert turned back to Lily. “Are you not coming with us, Mage Lily?”
“No. I must go Slumber. I feel it approaching already.”
“Ah. Right. Then, here, take my lantern and be careful on your way down the hill.” Having passed the lantern to her, he turned and, step by cautious step, carried Vetch across the void until they were lost to the shadows beneath the great castle wall. Lily heard them reach the other side and then heard their bootsteps hastening away in different directions.
Finding herself alone, she lingered only long enough to watch both Barriers lose their golden hue and become invisible. Too late now to worry about whether Siegert had thought to somehow mark the ground on the other side where the bridge could be found, for when they must return by it. If not, they would have to wait for Vetch and Marigold to arrive. Mari would be able to sense its location, or cast a new one they could all walk across. Even Vetch.
She wavered on her feet. Slumber was calling. “Back to the inn,” she told herself. “No sense dawdling around here fretting.”
Carefully, she picked her way back down the slope, holding the muffled lantern before her. Its obscured light cast odd shadows around stones and trees. Those shadows crept in half circles along the ground as she passed by. She found the small plateau beneath the short trees and from there the game trail that would lead her back down to the edge of town. It took all her concentration to remain focused on her footing, so she wouldn’t slip on some scree and go tumbling. The ethereal feeling of Slumber closing in made it difficult to the point of hazard. Each step felt weighted, while at the same time, her body was infused with the sensation of wanting to lift off the ground.
She considered it a small miracle when she reached the bottom of the hill having only slipped once. The harmless fall had left her skirt dirtied, but, of course, it already had been from her interlude with Vetch earlier in the evening. That reminder brought a smile to her face and made her cheeks color again. Why must they have quarreled? It irked her. That was not what she wanted to remember this night for.
She arrived back onto the dirt road that gradually became the cobbles of a lonely street on the edge of Black Crux town. It couldn’t even be midnight, yet the streets and buildings were dark and silent. She saw no one about. Concern for Vetch’s mission warred with her need to lie down and let Slumber overtake her. She felt helpless returning to their inn room. Despite her confidence in Vetch, she wished she could have gone with him.
Again, she wavered on her feet, this time nearly toppling. The onset of Slumber felt nothing like being drunk, but it left one’s legs similarly unsteady. Lily turned down a narrow alley, steadying herself by trailing her hands on the walls of the buildings enclosing it.
At the end of the alley, she found ... a dead end. That wasn’t right. Then, she remembered. It was one more street up, then a turn into an alley. That’s the way that led back to the market street and thence to their inn.
She turned around, but then she had to sit down on the cobbles. She hadn’t anticipated casting two Barriers this night, only one. She had thrown so much concentration into the second spell. Her body now felt like it was rising up off the ground. She knew enough of Slumber’s signs to know she would not make it back to the inn this evening.
The dead end of this alley it was, then. She wondered when she would wake, and hoped it wouldn’t rain before then.